Rinku Singh Biography, Profile, Age, Country, Cricket Stats, Wife, Height, Salary, IPL, Wiki, and more

Rinku Singh is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Kolkata franchise in the Indian Premier League. Rinku Singh was born on Oct 12, 1997; as of 2024, he is 27. Rinku Singh is a batter from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh and bats left-handed. He made his IPL debut in 2018. Rinku Singh has played 31 matches to date in his IPL career and has scored 725 runs, with an average of 36.25. He has also slammed 4 half-centuries, with his highest IPL score being 67* runs. Rinku Singh has hit 54 fours and 38 sixes in his IPL career. In the IPL Auction 2024, the Kolkata franchise acquired the services of Rinku Singh for Rs 55.00 Lac. On May 2023, he played his last IPL match against Lucknow at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India, scoring 67 runs off 33 balls.

Rinku Singh Biography

Rinku Singh Physical Statistics

Rinku Singh Profile

Rinku Singh is the only batter to hit five sixes in the last over of an IPL chase, or any T20 chase (where ball-by-ball data is available) for that matter, winning Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) a game that looked well beyond them against Gujarat Titans (GT) in 2023.

– During that innings, Rinku became the first Indian to hit five consecutive sixes in one over in the IPL – only Chris Gayle had done it before him; two other Indians (Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Tewatia) have five sixes in an IPL over but not off consecutive deliveries.

– Rinku was first bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS, at the time Kings XI Punjab or KXIP) at the 2017 auction but he didn’t get a game with them. So his IPL career only really started and flourished at KKR, who gave him a debut in 2018.

It was around a decade ago that Rinku Singh started playing cricket – a sport that’s loved the most in our country. In 2013, Rinku Singh was selected in UP’s under-16 team and a couple of years later he was also picked up in UP’s under-19 team for his talent as an aggressive batsman. Known to be a hard hitter of the cricket ball, the southpaw notched up a swashbuckling 31-ball 95 in one of the games in a camp held by Mumbai Indians in the same year. Coming from a humble background, things haven’t come trouble-free for this left-handed batsman. Son of a LPG delivery man and brother of an auto-rickshaw driver, Rinku Singh has had to struggle quite a bit in his young days to make it to this stage.

Another notable performance by Rinku Singh in recent times came during Uttar Pradesh’s Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018 encounter where he played a sweltering knock of 44-ball 91* against Tripura. With a lot of local Indian talent around and availability of some world class foreign cricketers in KKR camp, Rinku Singh would look to make the most of this experience and would get to learn a lot in the presence of these players.

IPL through the years

Rinku was one of those incredible young Indian talent to be backed by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Along with Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku was another ‘slightly unknown buy’ for KKR. This after KXIP had purchased the youngster’s services for the 2017 IPL for his base price of Rs.10 lakhs.

But at the auction table in 2018, Rinku’s stocks kept getting higher and he fetched four times his base cap of Rs. 20 lakhs to be bagged by KKR at Rs. 80 lakhs. But his chances were few and far in between and he ended up scoring only 29 runs from the 4 games he played. But KKR decided to retain the services of the destructive middle-order bat.

The left-handed batter was given a longer run by KKR in 2022 as compared to the previous seasons, and Rinku made the most of the given chances. He scored 172 runs at a decent average of 174 and almost pulled off a spectacular run chase against Lucknow Super Giants with a fantastic 15-ball 40. The Knight Riders lost by 2 runs, but Rinku’s knock was indeed a memorable one.

Rinku came into his own in the 2023 season. He took the burden off Andre Russell for becoming KKR’s designated finisher. Rinku’s finest hour came in a league game against Gujarat Titans where he hit Yash Dayal for five consecutive sixes in the final over of a game to win KKR an improbable game. The southpaw repeated these kinds of heroics against PBKS and CSK.

Rinku’s finishing exploits caught the eye of the BCCI selectors who picked him for the away T20I series to Ireland. He has played some handy knocks for India are well in the few opportunities presented so far, and looks like a reliable batter to have in that middle order.

Rinku Singh Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

Bowling

Rinku Singh IPL Auction Price History

Rinku Singh’s Social Media Accounts

Some Lesser-Known Facts About Rinku Singh

• Rinku Singh is an Indian cricketer who became famous after hitting 5 consecutive sixes in a 2023 IPL match against Gujarat Titans. He plays for Uttar Pradesh and Central Zone in the domestic circuit. He has represented Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in Indian Premier League (IPL).
• Since his childhood, he was interested in cricket and used to play with his brothers and other boys in the neighbourhood.
• He got admission in Delhi Public School, Aligarh through sports quota after DPS principal Swapnil Jain saw him play unbeaten innings of 68 runs.Rinku Singh (right) with a friend during his school days
• He dropped out of school after he failed in 9th standard to support his family as he belonged to a poor financial background.
• He was once offered a job cleaning a coaching centre; however, he did not like the job and told his family that he would focus on cricket to improve his family’s condition. He later talked about this in an interview and said,
  My mom once told me that your father isn’t supporting you, so why don’t you get a job. I thought of taking a job to support my family at a coaching center near us. I thought I’ll get a good job and went wearing a shirt and pant. But I was offered a sweeping job. They said you come and sweep in the morning before anyone comes, no one will get to know you do this. I didn’t like that and I told myself I’ll focus on cricket instead and I left from there. I worked hard and my hard work has paid off.” 
• Rinku Sing hails from a humble background where his father is an LPG delivery man and another side his brother is an Auto Rikshaw driver.Rinku Singh with his family
• There are nine members of his family and they all live in a small two-room house located in the compound of an LPG distribution company. He later built a three-storeyed house; however, his parents still live in the small house.
• His father did not like cricket and wanted him to focus on his studies, and he even used to beat him with a stick to stop him from playing cricket; however, in 2012, he played in a tournament named Cricket World Cup organised by DPS Aligarh where he played against teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka and finished the tournament with 354 runs and 8 wickets. He won a Motor Bike as a Man-of-the-series award in a tournament in Delhi where his parents were also present in the audience. His incredible performance made his father his biggest supporter, and he never beat him again or stopped him from playing cricket. 
• He represented the Uttar Pradesh team in all three formats in various categories including Under-16, Under-19, and Under-23 levels. He scored 154 runs in his debut match in the Vijay Merchant Trophy.
• On 5 March 2014, he played his debut one-day match for Uttar Pradesh against Vidarbha at Jaipur in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and scored 83 runs off 87 balls.
• On 31 March 2014, he played his debut T20 match for Uttar Pradesh against Vidarbha at Jaipur in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and scored 24 runs off 5 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
• He represented Central Zone Under-19 in 2014, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association XI in 2015, and Indian Board President’s XI in 2018.Rinku Singh during his early playing days
• On 5 November 2016, he played his debut Ranji match for Uttar Pradesh against Punjab and scored 50 runs in the first innings and 43 runs not out in the second innings.
• He became popular in domestic cricket for scoring runs in the Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy at an average of more than 50.
• In 2017, Kings XI Punjab bought him for the base price of Rs 10 lakhs but unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to play even in a single match.Rinku Singh with Preity Zinta, Owner Of King XI Punjab
• His father left his profession of LPG distribution as he got to know that his son is selected for the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab in 2017.
• He was the highest runscorer for Uttar Pradesh in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy with 803 runs in 9 matches in the group stage and 953 runs in 10 matches in the tournament including 4 centuries with the scores of 149, 149, 150, and 163 runs not out.Rinku Singh with the award given to him for scoring maximum runs for Uttar Pradesh in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy
• He was got noticed by IPL Franchise when he scored 91 off 31 balls in a campaign by Mumbai Indians. That explosive knock was the reason behind his buying by Kolkata Knight Riders who acquired him for Rs 80 lakhs against his base price of Rs 20 lakhs.  His whole family was very happy with his selection, and he said that he could now organise a grand wedding for his sister Neha. He said,
  Last year, after being picked in the auction, I started dreaming of organising a glittering wedding for my sister. Now that KKR has taken me for Rs 80 lakh, my dream has strengthened.” Rinku Singh with Shah Rukh Khan, Co-owner Of KKR
• His monthly family income was 12000 from all sources but after his selection in IPL, it changed.Rinku Singh (left) during a practice session with KKR scout Abhishek Nayar
• On 8 April 2018, he made his debut in IPL against Royal Challengers Bangalore and scored 6 runs off 6 balls.
• He made 29 runs in 4 matches in the 2018 IPL at an average of 7.25 and a strike rate of 93.54 with the highest score of 16 runs; he took 4 catches in the tournament.
• He made 37 runs in 5 matches in the 2019 IPL at an average of 18.50 and a strike rate of 108.82 with the highest score of 30 runs; he took 1 catch in the tournament.
• He made 11 runs in 1 match in the 2020 IPL at an average of 11 and a strike rate of 100; he took 1 catch in the tournament.
• In a Vijay Hazare Trophy match, he suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee which rule him out of cricket for 6-7 months. He underwent an operation and recovered successfully; however, he could not play in the 2021 IPL.Rinku Singh after his knee operation
• His father got stressed after he came to know about his injury and did not eat for 2-3 days. Rinku later talked about this phase in an interview and said,
  I trained hard the way my body language is. The team never thought I was down. Last year was quite tough for me as I got a knee injury during the Vijay Hazare Trophy while running a double. The moment I fell, I thought of the IPL. They told me I needed an operation and would require 6-7 months to recover. I wasn’t happy staying away from cricket for so long. My father didn’t eat for 2-3 days. I told him its’ just an injury and it’s part of cricket. I’m the sole breadwinner of my life and when such things happen, it is bound to be worrisome. I was a bit sad, but I knew I would recover quickly as I had a lot of self-belief.”
• KKR again acquired him in the 2022 IPL mega-auction for Rs 55 lakhs against his base price of Rs 20 lakhs.
• He made 174 runs in 7 matches in the 2022 IPL at an average of 34.80 and a strike rate of 148.72 with the highest score of 42 runs not out; he took 9 catches in the tournament.
• In the match against Rajasthan Royals in the 2022 IPL, he won his first Man of the Match award by scoring 42 runs off 23 balls at a strike rate of 182.61.Rinku Singh with his first IPL Man of the Match award for his incredible performance against Rajasthan Royals
• In the match against Lucknow Super Giants in the 2022 IPL, he scored 18 runs off 5 balls in the last over bowled by Marcus Stoinis; however, he was dismissed on the second-last delivery, and KKR lost the match by a margin of 2 runs.
• He earned the spotlight after he hit five consecutive sixes to Yash Dayal‘s final over to help KKR beat Gujarat Titans (GT) in an IPL 2023 match; KKR needed 28 off the final five balls.

• According to Rinku, before KKR bought him, he was battling poverty back home and was contemplating leaving the game to take care of his family.
• After hitting five consecutive sixes against Gujarat Titans (GT) in an IPL 2023 match, he talked about his family and said,
  Father used to earn some Rs 6-7 thousand monthly, as was the elder brother. My family is a bit big and I had no option other than to focus hard on cricket. Life mein struggle bahut kiya, may be God is repaying for those days.” 
• KKR tweeted about his heroics and KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit compared him to Ravi Shastri and Javed Miandad. Rinku said in an interview that he was confident and said,
  Feel good, it was my life’s best innings, the whole country has now heard of me. I have played such innings before, so I was confident, and I’m confident about the number I play at. It is a big deal for me to be compared with the big players like (Ravi) Shastri and (Javed) Miandad. I loved Nitish bhaiya’s reaction the best. He was running hard at me, I was worried we might hit each other. Ut that was great. Pandit ji hugged me and almost cried, he said ‘you saved our respect (izzat rakh li).”
• A tweet was done by Shah Rukh Khan, KKR owner, which depicted Rinku Singh in an edited poster of Khan’s film Pathaan.
• He is the first player from Aligarh to play in IPL.
• Rinku made 17 runs in 14 deliveries and claimed 1 wicket for 2 runs on his ODI debut in December 2023.